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Process
for Electing Parent Representatives
to the LHS Council
Parent representatives
on the LHS council represent all LHS parents. While the PTSA organizes
the election of parents to the council, there is no PTSA membership
requirement for either being a parent representative or voting for a
parent representative. The process for electing parent representatives
is as follows:
- At the beginning
of December, the Nominating Committee contacts the Council to find
out how many parent representative terms expire at the end of the
current school year.
- The council
tells the Nominating Committee how many terms are expiring and also
informs the Nominating committee if there are any current parent representatives
whose terms expire but who want to continue being parent representatives.
There are five parent representative slots on the school council.
- The Nominating
Committee places an article in the January newsletters published by
LHS, Clarke, and Diamond that announces the open slots and solicits
candidates. This article states that you must have a student in the
high school while you are a parent representative, that parent representative
terms are for three years, and that a parent representative can serve
two or more consecutive terms. However, it also states that parents
of sophomores can be elected to two-year terms. In addition, if the
incumbent parent representatives are not representative of the ethnic
diversity of the school, the Nominating Committee contacts groups
in an effort to facilitate having a parent of color volunteer to become
a representative.
- The deadline
for volunteering to be a parent representative is March 1.
- If the number
of candidates, including any current parent representatives who want
to continue, is equal to the number of slots, the candidates are automatically
elected to the school council. A parent representative must have a
child who attends LHS during each year that the parent serves as a
representative. Also, if a parent would be a new representative to
the school council, the parent must be eligible to be a representative
for at least two consecutive years.
- If there are more candidates than slots, there is an election.
- If there are fewer candidates than slots, it is the job of the
Nominating Committee to find interested candidates.
- Two parents cannot share a slot on the school council.
- When there is
an election, each candidate writes a message for placement in the
April newsletter. This should include why the candidate is interested
in being a parent representative and what value the candidate would
add to the school council.
- All LHS parents
vote for the parent representatives to the school council. A parent
votes by filling out the form in the April newsletter and mailing
it to a designated Nominating Committee person by May 1.
- After the parents
who will fill the open slots are selected, the Nominating Committee,
in consultation with the principal, determines whether any terms are
for less than three years. The rule is that a term is three years.
However, a term of one year or a term of two years is assigned in
the following circumstances:
- If a current parent representative is re-elected, and that parent
is eligible for only one or two more years, or that parent wants to
serve for only one or two more years, a term of one year or two years,
respectively, is assigned.
- If a new parent representative is elected, and that parent is eligible
for only two years, a term of two years is assigned.
- If the terms of more than three parent representatives will expire
in the same year, one or two terms of two years are assigned to ensure
proper staggering. The goal is to always have at least two parents
who remain on the school council from one year to the next.
- If two year terms must be assigned to ensure staggering, if there
was no election, the parents assigned two-year terms are chosen by
consensus among the parent representatives, or by lottery if there
is no agreement. If there was an election, the parent with the least
votes is assigned the two-year term.
A term starts on July 1 and ends on June 30.
- At the May PTSA
meeting, the Nominating Committee announces the parent representatives
for the next school year.
- If a parent representative
resigns between elections, the parent with the most votes in the previous
election, who was not elected, replaces the resigning representative.
The PTSA Copresidents determine the length of the term of the replacement
representative. If there was no election in the past year, the PTSA
advertises in the newsletter and on the list server for a volunteer
to replace the resigning representative.
Tables
for Tracking Terms of Parent Representatives to the LHS Council
| Slot
|
Parent
Rep. |
2005/2006 |
2006/2007 |
Child
in LHS
Year; Term |
Child
in LHS
Year; Term |
| 1 |
Margie
Bogdanow |
Junior
Year 2 of 3; Term 2 |
Senior
Year 3 of 3; Term 2 |
| 2 |
Diane
Garmon |
Sophomore
Year 3 of 3; Term 1 |
Junior
Year 1 of 3; Term 2 |
| 3 |
Ed
Moriarity |
Junior
Year 2 of 3; Term 1 |
Senior
Year 3 of 3; Term 1 |
| 4 |
Adam
Seitchik |
|
Freshman
Year 1 of 3; Term 1 |
| 5 |
Dick Brown |
Freshman
Year 1 of 3; Term 1 |
Sophomore
Year 2 of 3; Term 1 |
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|